This application claims the benefit of PCT/A98/00666 filed Aug. 21, 1998 and published in English.
This invention relates to an apparatus for transferring one or more articles onto moving carriers.
In apparatus designed for the automated handling of articles, it is often necessary to transfer an article onto a carrier. The article may thereafter be processed whilst being transported on the carrier. Such processing might include labelling, cleaning, delabelling, identification, sorting, packaging or some other similiar operation. The present invention does not concern the manner by which an article might be processed whilst being conveyed by such a carrier, but rather relates to an apparatus for conveniently and quickly transferring articles onto a carrier which might then deliver the articles to another destination for further processing. The invention Is particularly suited for use in a garment hanger sorting apparatus such as the type described in the applicant""s copending International Patent Application PCT/AU96/00721 and the contents of this earlier application is incorporated by reference.
It will be appreciated that the Invention hereafter described is suitable for use in transferring a range of different articles onto a carrier utilised in automated article handling apparatus. For convenience, however, much of the subsequent discussion of the invention is made with reference to the loading of a garment hanger onto a carrier. It should be appreciated that the present Invention, whilst having particular applicability in loading garment hangers onto a carrier is not so limited and that the invention is suitable in a range of different applications in which articles are to be handled by automated goods processing equipment.
In any goods processing equipment, the speed at which articles can be transferred or loaded onto a conveyor or carrier can be a limiting factor (and is often the most limiting factor) in determining the rate at which the apparatus can operate. Clearly the rate at which articles are loaded onto a automated processing apparatus sets an upper limit as to the rate at which the apparatus can operate (in terms of number of articles per unit time). For example, in the case of garment hanger sorting apparatus such as that described in the applicant""s International Application PCT/AU96/00721 the rate at which garment hangers may be sorted is limited by the speed at which individual garment hangers can be loaded onto the hanger conveyor.
The present invention is more particularly concerned with an apparatus and method whereby an article can be transferred onto a carrier whilst the carrier is moving. If a carrier is required to be stationary for the transfer of articles on to it, this not only slows down operating performance but can also lead to malfunction due to the need for intermittent operation of the apparatus between loading and processing operations. Malfunction is particularly likely if the articles being transferred are suspended from a conveyor and the articles are moved to the carrier and then stopped. This intermittent operation can cause the articles to swing and potentially entangle.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for loading an article onto a carrier in a rapid manner and under conditions where it is less likely that there will be malfunction.
Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for transferring an article onto a moving carrier, said apparatus including:-.
(a) a conveyor for transporting an article;
(b) drive means for moving a carrier; and
(c) coordinating means;
wherein said coordinating means is capable of controlling the relative movements of the conveyor and the drive means such that a carrier being moved by the drive means and an article being transported by the conveyor can be separately moved to a contact location at which the carrier will contact the article whilst both the carrier and the article are moving and wherein the conveyor and the carrier are configured such that the article is caused to be transferred onto the carrier upon or following the carrier""s initial contact with the article.
Preferably, the coordinating means controls the relative movement of the conveyor and the drive means such that the carrier is moving faster than the article at the contact location. Preferably, the article Is being transported by the conveyor at the contact location at a speed which is between one half to two thirds of the speed at which the carrier is moving at the contact location.
Preferably the article and the carrier are moving in substantially the same direction immediately prior to reaching the contact location. Because the article is being moved at the time of contact, the article is less likely to jolt forward in an uncontrolled manner when the contact occurs than if it were stationary and this assists in efficient transfer of the article onto the conveyor. In the case of garment hangers, there are particular difficulties which arise from sudden and abrupt contact if the garment hanger is stationary. If the garment hanger is suspended from a conveyor it is likely to swing about if there is abrupt contact. Furthermore, in the case of garment hangers comprising a body which is rotatable on a wire hook, abrupt contact can lead to the body rotating and if garment hangers are closely spaced on a conveyor, this can lead to entanglement again causing malfunction.
Preferably, there is not a significant differential between the speed of the carrier and the speed of the article at the contact location. Most preferably, the differential is not more than 0.10 mts. In a preferred embodiment, for the transfer of garment hangers, the carrier travels at a speed between 0.15 m/s and 0.30 m/s at the contact location and the garment hanger Is travelling at a speed of between 0.10 m/s and 0.20 m/s at the contact location.
It is preferred that the apparatus be able to process multiple articles In succession. Accordingly, it is preferred that the conveyor be able to simultaneously transport a plurality of articles and the drive means be capable of moving a plurality of carriers. In this arrangement, the coordinating means should control the relative movements of the conveyor and the drive means so that for each article transported to the contact location, a separate carrier will be moved to reach the contact location at the same time.
The carrier may collect the article so that it is transferred from the conveyor at the time of initial contact and this may be achieved, for example. by the carrier incorporating a hook or ledge onto which the article may be transferred. However, transfer is preferably delayed so that the article may be moved in concert by or with the carrier for a distance prior to transfer. This enables a progressive increase in speed for the article and thus a smoother transfer onto the carrier.
Preferably the carrier includes holding means for engaging at least a portion of the article.
Preferably the holding means is in the form of a recess on the carrier which is configured to accommodate at least a portion of the article. In one embodiment, where the apparatus is used for collecting and conveying garment hangers, the recess includes a flat seat on which the hooked part of the garment hanger can be located. In this arrangement, the seat supports the hanger with the remaining part of the hanger being arranged to suspend from the carrier it is intended that the carrier be shaped and designed so that it is able to carry articles from one location to another.
Preferably each carrier includes an abutment surface which can abut against a portion of the article at the contact location. The abutment surface preferably projects forwardly from the holding means in the direction of the carrier""s movement, so that on abutment with the abutment surface, the article moves with the carrier under operation of the drive means prior to being engaged by the holding means.
Preferably, at least part of the conveyor is mounted on a portion which includes a ramp which Is inclined relative to the direction of movement of the carrier. In this arrangement, the conveyor functions to move the article along the ramp to the contact location from where it may be moved at a faster rate by the carrier under operation of the drive means. As the article moves along the ramp it is preferred that it simultaneously be caused to move relative to the abutment surface and the apparatus is arranged such that this relative movement continues until the article is moved from the abutment surface and into a position where it can move into engagement with the holding means.
Preferably, the carrier further includes retaining means operable to retain the article to the holding means. In one form, the retaining means can be positioned in either an operative mode where it operates to retain the article to the holding means or an inoperative mode where it does not retain the article relative to the holding means.
In a preferred form, the retaining means includes a pair of fingers which can be located on opposite sides of the article. The fingers are controllable by an operation arm which is able to move the fingers so to change the retaining means between the operative and inoperative modes.
In one form, the fingers are located at one of opposite ends of the operation arm. A pivot is located intermediate of the arm ends and the mode of the fingers is controlled by movement of the arm. In this way, the retaining means is able to change between the operative and inoperative modes by applying a force to the end of the operation arm opposite to the fingers. In a preferred form, the force can be applied automatically through the use of a cam or the like.
The conveyor may be in any form suitable for transporting articles from a location remote from the contact location to the contact location. It preferably moves the articles at a constant speed when they are proximate to the contact location. The conveyor preferably includes means to transport articles to the contact location at a constant frequency. Preferably articles are transported by the conveyor with articles being equidistantly spaced on the conveyor.
In the situation where the articles being transferred onto the moving carrier are garment hangers or any other articles which might be hung from a hook, it is preferred that the conveyor be or include a rotatable shaft having an external helical thread. The helical thread may be in the nature of a groove or a raised rib located on the surface of the shaft. Most preferably, the shaft is provided with a helical groove. In this arrangement, garment hangers may be suspended from the shaft by engaging the hooks of the respective garment hangers into the helical groove on the shaft. Preferably, the width of the groove is slightly wider than the width of the hook of the garment hanger being suspended therefrom. Preferably, garment hangers are located along the groove and spaced by the distance of the pitch of the groove. Thus, the garment hangers when suspended from the shaft in this way will be equally spaced and one full rotation of the shaft will advance each hanger, a distance equal to the pitch of the thread. When the shaft is fully loaded In this way, for every full rotation of the shaft one hanger will be delivered to the end of the shaft.
In this arrangement, in order for a carrier to be associated with each hanger (or other similar such article) delivered to the end of the shaft by a complete rotation thereof, It is necessary that respective carriers be conveyed by the drive means to the contact location for every complete rotation of the shaft. Once determining the distance between respective carriers and the speed of rotation of the shaft, the coordinating means can control the movement of the conveyor or the movement of the drive means or both to ensure that a respective carrier is conveyed so to reach the contact location for each full rotation of the shaft. Preferably, the forward movement of the garment hanger or other article by rotation of the shaft is such that it is less than the speed of the carrier.
Preferably, the conveyor also includes an inclined ramp with an associated conveyor belt and the article is transferred onto the carrier at a location adjacent to the moving conveyor belt. Preferably, the conveyor belt moves the article forward at a speed greater than the speed at which It moved on the rotating shaft, but less than the speed at which the carrier is moved by the drive means. Most preferably, the shaft conveys the article at a speed of approximately one third the speed of the carrier, the conveyor belt conveys the garment hanger at a speed which is approximately two thirds of that of the carrier. In this way, the speed at which the article is conveyed to the contact location is progressively increased. This minimises the prospect of malfunction. Preferably, the conveyor belt is inclined at the same inclination as the shaft and the conveyor belt is located such that a hanger or other similar article delivered off the end of the shaft onto the conveyor belt will not experience any substantial upwards or downwards movement. In other words, that part of the conveyor belt located proximate the end of the shaft preferably has its upper most surface at a level approximately equal to the level of the base of the groove in the rotating shaft.
Preferably, the conveyor belt is located on a separate support element which is hinged to allow downward movement should there be any malfunction in the transfer of the article from the conveyor belt onto the carrier. For example, if a garment hanger becomes caught underneath a carrier, continued forward movement of the carrier will cause downward pressure on the conveyor belt and thus on the hinged support element causing downward movement for the ejection of the hanger or other article not correctly transferred onto the carrier.
Preferably, the coordinating means is provided by linked encoders and hardware which is designed to measure and regulate the speed of the conveyor and the speed of the drive means and the respective positions of the carriers and the articles to ensure simultaneous delivery of an article and a carrier to the contact location for smooth transfer onto the carrier. The applicant""s preferred arrangement involves the following.
1. Setting the speed of the drive means. Preferably the drive means includes a chain or belt which is driven by an electric motor. The speed of the chain is set by adjusting the electric current delivered to the electric motor.
2. An encoder positioned adjacent to the chain or belt measures the speed and position of the carrier and this information is relayed to a controller for setting the speed at which the shaft is to be rotated.
3. The speed at which the shaft is rotated is communicated to separate apparatus which In turn regulates the speed of a servo motor linked to the conveyor belt drive.
The apparatus for coordinating the respective components speed is known in the art. The coordinating means is preferably set to ensure that the conveyor belt operates so to move the article at a speed greater than the speed at which it is conveyed by the shaft conveyor but slower than that at which the drive means moves the carrier. Positional coordination by the coordinating means is important so to ensure that a respective carrier is delivered to the contact location at the same time as an article is delivered by the conveyor belt to that location so that the article may be transferred onto the carrier whilst both are moving.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for the continuous processing of articles, said apparatus including:
(a) a drive means which includes a continuous chain or belt. to which there is attached a multiplicity of carriers equally spaced about said chain or belt;
(b) a conveyor for transporting articles to a location at which the articles can be associated with respective ones of the carriers; and
(c) coordinating means:
wherein said coordinating means controls the relative movement of the conveyor and the drive means such that carriers being moved by the drive means and articles being transported by the conveyor will in turn be separately delivered to a contact location at which the respective carriers sequentially come into contact with respective articles whilst both the respective carriers and articles are moving and whereby articles are caused to be sequentially transferred onto the respective carriers upon or following each carrier""s contact with a respective article.
Preferably, articles are loaded onto the conveyor and spaced such that respective articles can be)transferred sequentially onto each carrier that passes the contact location.